Javierre Ortas was born in Siétamo, Spain. He was ordained in 1949 and took his doctorate in theology in Louvain. For many years he lectured in fundamental theology and dogmatics in places such as Turin, Rome, Peru, Guatemala and Poland. During the Second Vatican Council he was a spokesman for the Spanish bishops in ecumenical questions.

In 1992, he allowed the existence of female altar servers in the Church, a decision that was somewhat controversial because the practice had previously been banned by his curial congregation, given that having a greater number of male altar servers can attract a greater number of candidates to the priesthood.[4]